'Britain has never been able to opt out of Europe, and this has never been truer' from The Guardian (9 May 1975)
Caption: On 9 May 1975, the British newspaper the Guardian publishes an article by former British Prime Minister Edward Heath in which he describes the close historical and economic link between the United Kingdom and a united Europe. Source: The Guardian. 09.05.1975. Manchester: The Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd. "Britain has never been able to opt out of Europe, and this has never been truer", auteur:Heath, Edward. Copyright: (c) GUARDIAN URL: http://www.cvce.eu/obj/britain_has_never_been_able_to_opt_out_of_europe_and_this_has_never_been_truer_from_the _guardian_9_may_1975-en-3f2cb84e-0f87-4545-af46-e07b147c3911.html Publication date: 13/09/2013
1 / 3 13/09/2013 EDWARD HEATH: Britain has never been able to opt out of Europe, and this has never been truer
THREE-QUARTERS of a million men from the United Kingdom were killed during the First World War. And a further million and a half were left permanently weakened by wounds or the effects of gas. In its toll of human life, in its devastating effect on every family in the land, the 1914-18 war was the cruellest war the world had ever known. So shattering was the impact that men declared that it was a “war to end war.” That hope was tragically short-lived. It was destroyed twenty-one years later by the Second World War, in which almost 400,000 British citizens were killed.
Those of us who tramped across the battlefields of Europe, drenched with the blood of young soldiers of every nationality, vowed that never again must this be allowed to happen. And when we returned to Britain, and saw how there was scarcely a home which had not suffered some great and irreparable loss, our resolve strengthened and deepened. The searing experience of those two European civil wars — for that is what they were — taught us two fundamental lessons. The first was that Europe would never be assured of peace unless France and Germany could be brought together. The second was that Britain could never hope to escape the consequences of events on the mainland of Europe.
To many, the possibility of a genuine and lasting rapprochement between France and Germany — after three devastating Franco-German wars in the space of 75 years — seemed remote indeed. But there were some who had vision. This is what Winston Churchill said in an historic speech in Zurich in 1946: “I am now going to say something that will astonish you. The first step in the re-creating of the European family must be a partnership between France and Germany. … There can be no revival of Europe without a spiritually great France and a spiritually great Germany.” This was not only a farseeing declaration; it was one of immense courage less than 18 months after the end of a long and bitter war.
On June 26 1950, in my maiden speech in the House of Commons, I urged the then Labour Government to join the talks on the Schuman Plan for creating the Coal and Steel Community as a basis for securing peace and prosperity in Europe. But, for Britain at least, that great opportunity was missed. And under successive Governments of both parties, the 1950s were to be a decade of great hopes but lost opportunities. When the European Economic Community was formed in 1958, Britain was merely an onlooker.
Meanwhile, it was becoming clear that, like it or not, Britain would be directly affected by what went on in the European Community. We could no longer afford to go it alone. As our economic ties with the Commonwealth weakened, so we needed more than ever to have access to the increasingly prosperous markets of Western Europe. And as the world regrouped into new and massive power blocks, Britain could only hope to enjoy a renewal of her influence — and a very considerable influence for good — within the new European Community.
President de Gaulle’s veto of the first set of negotiations in 1963 was a serious setback to Britain and a bitter blow to me. But I knew that it could only be a temporary setback. De Gaulle was no King Canute: he could not turn back the tide of history. So sure was I of this that in my final statement in Brussels in January 1963, I told my colleagues from the other five member states: “We in Britain are not going to turn our backs on the mainland of Europe or on the countries of the Community. We are a part of Europe; by geography, tradition, history, culture and civilisation.” And I remain as convinced of this now as I was then.
There is something both inevitable and inexorable about the tides of history. Slowly over the past 15 years, governments of both parties, but especially of the Labour Party, which were originally suspicious, distrustful or hostile of the Community, have learnt by experience that there is no alternative. There is nothing that needs to be done that cannot be done better within the European Community. Economically, membership of the Community presents us with new opportunities for exports, new investment and new jobs. Now is hardly the time to slam the door on all of that. And if we can seize those opportunities, there lies the way for better social services, more help for the deprived areas, a pleasanter environment and more facilities for the arts and recreation.
2 / 3 13/09/2013 Outside Europe, the enlarged Community gives more foreign aid even than the United States. The recent and historic Lomé Convention with 46 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries is testament to the commitment of the EEC to the developing world. Of course, there are those who point to Britain’s trade deficit — conveniently forgetting that at a time of a general deterioration in our balance of payments, our trading position has got far worse with the US and the Commonwealth than with the Community. There will be others who enjoy scaremongering about prices — conveniently ignoring the fact that, as the Labour Government has confirmed, membership of the EEC has had no effect on the general level of prices either way. These are important areas of argument, though weaker and weaker ground for the anti-marketeers, but they are small scale when set alongside the fundamental issues.
Peace in Europe can never be taken for granted — as the dashed hopes after 1918 demonstrate. Britain cannot turn her back on Europe — the war of 1939-45 is proof of that. For the first time in their history, the ancient nation-states of Europe are coming together to learn the lessons of history and to avoid a repetition of its mistakes. A unilateral withdrawal of Britain from the Community would be traumatic: the work of a generation would be put at risk. Britain has never been able to opt out of Europe and this has never been truer than today. We have a unique and crucial role to play in building a Europe others have only dreamed of: free from tyranny and bloodshed, living in peace and prosperity and meeting its responsibilities in the wider world.
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